Homelessness

Your Guide To Homelessness

Whether you qualify as a homeless person for housing depends on your individual circumstances. The Housing Act 1996 Part VII and subsequent legislation sets out the legal duties of local authorities towards people who are homeless or about to be made homeless. However, the Council does not have to provide permanent housing to all homeless people.

What To Expect

• We are committed to providing a high quality homelessness service.
• We believe that everyone who approaches us is important and will be treated equally.

If you apply to this Authority for housing because you are homeless, or threatened with homelessness:

• Our staff will always speak to you in a polite manner and deal with your housing needs sensitively and professionally.
• We will arrange a suitable time for an interview at either York House, Windsor or the Town Hall, Maidenhead within 7 working days of you first contacting us.
• In an emergency we will see you at York House without an appointment.
• We will investigate your circumstances
• We will respect the confidentiality of the information you give us and give you the opportunity to discuss your individual circumstances in a private interview room.
• We will provide a named officer who will deal with your case from start to finish.
• By prior arrangement, we will give you a choice of a male or female officer to interview you and/or provide a lip reader, signer or interpreter.
• We will normally make a decision on your application within 33 working days and inform you of the outcome in writing. If you do not agree with this decision you may request a review of it.

What We Expect

We expect you to:

• Attend your interview on time or let us know if you can't make it.
• Provide any information asked for as soon as possible
• Keep us informed of any change in your circumstances
• Act on advice given
• Treat our staff with courtesy. Remember they are trying to help you.

Threatened Homelessness

You are considered to be threatened with homelessness if now, or within the next 28 days:

• There is nowhere that you and your family can stay together; or
• You no longer have a legal right to stay in your home; or
• You have somewhere to live but cannot gain entry to it; or
• You are at risk of violence from someone who is living in your home; or
• Your home is a caravan or boat and you have nowhere to legally place it and live in it; or
• You have a home in which it is not reasonable for you to live, when compared with the housing conditions of other people living in the area

If you are threatened with homelessness, your name will be placed on the statutory register and you will be awarded points based on the accommodation you currently occupy. In addition the following points will be awarded if: -

The landlord has served a legal notice to quit - 30 points

The landlord has been awarded a Possession Order - 20 points

A court has issued an Eviction Warrant - 20 points

Homeless

If you do not receive an offer of accommodation from the Statutory Housing Register before you are required to leave the property, there are certain groups of people in priority need who this Authority has a duty to assist.

You are not eligible for assistance if:

• You are from abroad and subject to immigration control;
• You are from abroad and you are not habitually resident in the UK; or
• You are a British citizen and you have not been habitually resident in the UK for a number of years.

You are in priority need if:

• You or someone you live with is pregnant
• You have living with you dependant children under 16 years of age or children aged 16 - 18 years in full time education
• You are 16 or 17 years old, unless Social Services has a responsibility to you.
• You are a care leaver aged 18, 19 or 20 who was looked after, accommodated or fostered between the ages of 16 and 18.
• You are homeless as a result of an emergency such as fire or flood.

You are also in priority need if you are vulnerable because:

• You or someone you live with is an older person
• You or someone you live with has a physical or mental illness or disability
• You have been in care and are over 21
• You have been in prison or the armed forces in the past
• You can no longer stay in your home because someone has been violent towards you or has threatened you with violence

There are exceptions to this and these will be discussed with you in interview.

You either have a 'local connection' with the area or no local connection with any other Council

Generally, the Council will only house you if you or a member of your family have a local connection with the area.

You may have a local connection if:

• You have lived here for six out of the last 12 months, or three out of the last five years; or
• You have permanent work in the area; or
• Your close relatives, such as mother, father, brother or sister, have lived here for the past five years; or
• You have very special reasons why you must live in the area.

What Help Will Be Offered

If you are eligible for assistance, homeless, and in priority need and have not become homeless intentionally our duty to you is to secure accommodation.

If there is no alternative accommodation available to you and you need urgent accommodation you may be offered temporary accommodation. This may be at Wellesley House in Windsor and exceptionally in bed and breakfast if no vacancies exist elsewhere. You will be charged for temporary accommodation and are advised to apply for housing benefit.

During your stay in temporary accommodation you are advised to keep in regular contact with your named caseworker in the Housing Options Unit.

You will be asked to complete a statutory housing register from the temporary accommodation address and will be given 25 points for every month you occupy it. This will replace any previous application. Permanent accommodation is only available to those registered on the statutory register. As the council does not own any properties itself, accommodation can only be made available through a Housing Association.

Because of the shortage of available accommodation it will be some time before any offer of permanent accommodation is made.

When you reach the top of the list you will be made one offer of suitable permanent accommodation. Should you refuse this your stay in temporary accommodation will be terminated and you will be required to make your own alternative arrangements.

If you do not fall into one of the priority groups then it will not be possible to arrange temporary accommodation for you.

Our duty to those people who are homeless but not in priority need is to provide advice and assistance to secure alternative accommodation. It may be possible to offer financial assistance towards any necessary deposit, and housing benefits advice can be given.

You may apply for permanent housing through the Statutory Housing Register but there is no guarantee as to how long it will take to assist you in this way.

If you wish to speak to a Housing Options Officer about Homelessness please contact 01628 683667 or 01628 683685.

Intentionally Homeless

If, for example, you have become homeless because you did not pay your rent or mortgage and you could afford to do so, you could be considered 'intentionally homeless'. This means that you have done something deliberately which causes you to be homeless. If you are found to be intentionally homeless, the Council cannot house you permanently even if you have children. We can only help for a short while and advise you where to go to find somewhere to live.

Out of Office Hours

In an Emergency situation, out of office hours, you may contact the Emergency Duty Team on 01344 786543.

Complaints Procedure

The Royal Borough is committed to providing its services efficiently and effectively, always remembering that the customer comes first.

However there are times when things go wrong and you may not be happy with the service you receive. If this happens we will do all we can to investigate your complaint as quickly as possible.

If you have a complaint about our service you may complain in writing or by telephone to the Housing Complaints Officer, Housing Policy Unit, Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead, Berks SL6 1RF. Telephone 01628 683639 who will investigate your complaint.

You should receive a full response within 10 working days from when we receive your complaint. We hope that your complaint will be fully resolved at this stage. If however you are not satisfied with the response you should contact the Authority for a guide to making a complaint, or you can click the following link and see the Online Guide to Making a Complaint.

Housing Register Application Form

•   Housing Register Application Form (633KB)

Housing Register Application Guide

•   Housing Register Application Guide (519KB)

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